Spring 2013 Issue of Midwest Meetings magazine...

After watching Jennifer Lopez work her planning magic in the movie, The Wedding Planner, Tracey Bockhop, CMP, Meeting Planner for the Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association (PCNA) knew that she wanted to be a part of the meetings and events world. Fresh out of college Tracey began gathering experience at a hotel and conference center in Madison, WI working in a variety of roles beginning as an administration assistant, then as a catering manager working with weddings, association, and corporate groups. It was through these positions she realized her passion was to move to the planner side and she set her sights on becoming just that.

Remember Your First Meeting?

How long have you been a meeting planner? Is it long enough to forget what it was like attending your first meeting? If so, it is time to step back and try to remember what traveling for the first time was like and how you felt walking into a room with hundreds of other participants who wanted to know about your business and your role in it.

This article almost didn’t get published. To be more accurate, it almost didn’t get written. You see, I’ve had this cold now for a couple weeks, and in my fog of decongestants, I inadvertently left my laptop behind on a plane the other day. Imagine the panic of arriving home late in the evening, on the last flight of the day, and wondering why your briefcase is a lot lighter than it should be.

Anne Marie Kjelland, of Lake City, MN is an associate with HelmsBriscoe, an independent conference and meetings resources firm. Many people refer to her as a meeting planner, but her title is Manager, Global Accounts and she collaborates with hoteliers and meeting planners worldwide to procure meeting space and accommodations for association and corporate meeting planners. HelmsBriscoe is aligned with no one brand or property and has relationships with hotels, resorts, and conference centers in over 40 countries. With cruise lines as well...Check out a typical day in the life of Anne Marie Kjelland.

I live a gluten free life, yet as a meeting professional I was not going to admit that I needed special meals at events. I did not want to stand out as being different or make another planner have to pay or do more. After all, my issue was that my body was sensitive to gluten, but not allergic. My symptoms made me think that I was in the early stages of Rheumatoid Arthritis until I eliminated gluten from my diet. I have spent the better part of the last five years trying to stay away from gluten, which is difficult when the meeting world is full of gluten.

Plan B. It can be the most important factor a meeting planner spends time on. This is confirmed from the moment Mother Nature decides to throw a temper tantrum. Sure, wind and rain might ruin outdoor festivities but fear not, there are plenty of creative ways to save the day. As we’ll show you, taking the event indoors isn’t the end of the world. After all, the party must go on.

One good contact made at an event can often pay for the whole trip! Yet, until recently the way most events managed this very important component did not get much thought. For decades, the name badge was the principal networking tool. By chance, attendees would notice a name badge, strike up a conversation and make a contact. Although this works, there is much to be desired in this haphazard approach.

1. Like me, you really like me…Not just on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, connect with me on LinkedIn and like my Pins on Pinterest. It’s the first step in creating a relationship, and when you reach out, I’m likely to follow you back. What’s more, I’ll do a quick check of who you are and I’ll start actively getting to know you and building an image of you through your social media content, which is a great first step towards building a relationship.

Armed with his personal experience as a meeting planner and speaker, Pierre Bisaillon CEO of ProjectSpeaker, Inc. decided to take on the challenge to reduce and eliminate some of the stress planners experienced. He began speaking with planners, asking questions about what their biggest pain points were and 100% of them said the hardest and most time consuming task was finding a great speaker for their events, not to mention it gave them the most stress.

Is your finger on the pulse of the attendee?I often wonder how much thought my clients put into the demographics and culture of the people attending their events because it seems that many event planners and producers approach their programs in such a cookie cutter fashion. This entire industry is about communication so I think it is important to remember that the communication styles and general feel of the programs must be in sync with the culture of each audience in order to be truly effective.

For cash-strapped organizations looking to boost their financial outlook, crowdfunding – a.k.a. online fundraising – may just be the hottest new invention since the annual donor’s event. A form of sponsorship drive through which associations and non-profits can raise money by posting promotions online and garnering pledges from everyday Internet users, interest in the field is quickly skyrocketing.

Typically when meeting planners talk about accommodating attendees, they are speaking about providing accessibility for participants with a disability. But recently, I was tasked with coming up with a comfort plan to accommodate larger attendees, in terms of both girth and height. Instinctively, the first things that came to mind were to provide larger chairs and to account for less participants per table to allow for more elbow room.Read more

With so many topics in the meetings industry, it can be a challenge to stay current on every situation you may encounter during your planning. The following questions are designed to test your knowledge, refresh your memory and to add a little challenge to your day. Like meeting planners need more challenge in their day!Following are some random questions created from my research, topics I cover in the classroom and discussion with professional meeting plannersRead more